The Great Resignation (It’s Not What You Think)

According to various news sources, there is a Great Resignation among workers in the United States. The pandemic has taught some of us that:

• Working from home can be awesome (and so if you – Employer – will not let me work from home at least a couple days a week, I will find a position that will.)
• Working for minimum wage is untenable and I’m holding out for bonuses and/or a liveable wage.
• Life is short and I need a job that feeds my soul.

First of all, these are the positions of the privileged. There are millions of workers who have few choices in terms of where they work in terms of geography and education level. If we can resign from our current job and look for new employment in a leisurely way, we are clearly people of privilege.

The Great Resignation I’m talking about here is not about employment though. It’s about the Millennials and Gen Z-ers. Middle school and high school teachers, church youth directors, young adult ministers are all saying that the young people they are serving feel resigned to “the way things are” as in: “that’s just the way life is.”

Life is unfair, unjust, untrustworthy, and unpredictable. That’s just the way things are.

This is The Great Resignation of our youngest generations and it doesn’t have to be like this. Imagine a spiritual community that inspires our youngest generations in terms of:

• Who they are: Children of God who have the capacity to change the world.
• Who God is: the One who gives them all they need to make the earth more like heaven.
• What the Church is: the community that supports, empowers, and releases them to make a difference in this life.

Can we be that Church? Or will we continue to exemplify a community full of judgment and injustice that our youngest generations shun?

I spent Wednesday with several Youth Ministers and they are excited to share with youth members the possibilities of making a difference in the world because that’s who God created us to be.

Maybe those adults who are resigning from their pre-COVID jobs will be inspired to be that kind of Church. Thank you Youth Ministers with an eye on the way things could be.

Image of Myers Park Presbyterian Church Youth at Montreat, NC Youth Conference in 2019.